{"id":46728,"date":"2026-02-16T11:44:22","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T19:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=46728"},"modified":"2026-02-16T11:44:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T19:44:56","slug":"as-dem-voters-seek-a-fight-with-the-superrich-aoc-is-now-their-favorite-candidate-poll","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/02\/16\/as-dem-voters-seek-a-fight-with-the-superrich-aoc-is-now-their-favorite-candidate-poll\/","title":{"rendered":"As Dem Voters Seek a \u2018Fight\u2019 With the Superrich, AOC is Now Their Favorite Candidate: Poll"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"62nd<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, U.S. representative for New York\u2019s 14th congressional district, speaks at a Townhall panel on populism at the 62nd Munich Security Conference on February 13, 2,026 in Munich, Germany.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0(Photo by Sean Gallup\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAn unmistakable majority wants a party that will fight harder against the corporations and rich people they see as responsible for keeping them down,\u201d wrote the New Republic\u2019s editorial director.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Prager<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Feb 15, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democratic voters overwhelmingly want a leader who will fight the superrich and corporate America, and they believe Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/a> is the person to do it, according to a poll released this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Democrats are often portrayed as squabbling and directionless, the poll conducted last month by the New Republic <\/em>with Embold Research demonstrated a remarkable unity among the more than 2,400 Democratic voters it surveyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"'Working-Class-Centered<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Working-Class-Centered Politics\u2019 Is Key to Defeating \u2018Scourge of Authoritarianism\u2019: AOC in Munich<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"'We<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018We Are Coming for Power for Working People\u2019: Ocasio-Cortez Talks US Politics in Germany<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This was true with respect to policy: More than 9 in 10 want to raise taxes on corporations and on the wealthiest Americans, while more than three-quarters want to break up tech monopolies and believe the government should conduct stronger oversight of business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it was also reflected in sentiments that a more confrontational governing philosophy should prevail and general agreement that the party in its current form is not doing enough to take on its enemies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three-quarters said they wanted Democrats to \u201cbe more aggressive in calling out Republicans<\/a>,\u201d while nearly 7 in 10 said it was appropriate to describe their party as \u201cweak.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This appears to have translated to support for a more muscular view of government. Where the label once helped to sink Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/a>\u2019 (I-Vt.) two runs for president, nearly three-quarters of Democrats now say they are either unconcerned with the label of \u201csocialist\u201d or view it as an asset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, 46% said they want to see a \u201cprogressive\u201d at the top of the Democratic ticket in 2028, higher than the number who said they wanted a \u201cliberal\u201d or a \u201cmoderate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s an environment that appears to be fertile ground for Ocasio-Cortez, who\u00a0pitched<\/a>\u00a0her vision for a \u201cworking-class-centered politics\u201d at this week\u2019s Munich summit in what many suspected was a soft-launch of her presidential candidacy in 2028.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

X post: https:\/\/x.com\/dylanotes\/status\/2022743440606560750?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2022743440606560750%7Ctwgr%5Ee8c1b3347ea391cf16a7d703c45a0a9e62e9acd2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Faoc-most-favorable-dem<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With 85% favorability, Bronx congresswoman had the highest approval rating of any Democratic figure in the country among the voters surveyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a higher mark than either of the figures who head-to-head polls<\/a> have shown to be presumptive favorites for the nomination: Former Vice President Kamala Harris<\/a> and California Gov. Gavin Newsom<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Early polls show AOC lagging considerably behind these top two. However, there are signs in the\u00a0New Republic\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>poll that may give her supporters cause for hope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

X post: https:\/\/x.com\/PollTracker2024\/status\/2022785631026327914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2022785631026327914%7Ctwgr%5Ee8c1b3347ea391cf16a7d703c45a0a9e62e9acd2%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.commondreams.org%2Fnews%2Faoc-most-favorable-dem<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Harris is also well-liked, 66% of Democrats surveyed said they believe she\u2019s \u201chad her shot\u201d at the presidency and should not run again after losing to President Donald Trump<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newsom does not have a similar electoral history holding him back and is riding high<\/a> from the passage of Proposition 50, which will allow Democrats to add potentially five more US House<\/a> seats this November.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But his policy approach may prove an ill fit at a time when Democrats overwhelmingly say their party is \u201ctoo timid\u201d about taxing the rich and corporations and taking on tech oligarchs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As labor unions<\/a> in California have pushed<\/a> for a popular proposal to introduce a billionaire\u2019s tax, Newsom has made himself the chiseled face of the resistance to this idea, joining<\/a> with right-wing<\/a> Silicon Valley barons in an aggressive campaign to kill it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While polls can tell us little two years out about what voters will do in 2028, New Republic<\/em> editorial director Emily Cooke said her magazine\u2019s survey shows an unmistakable pattern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s impossible to come away from these results without concluding that economic\u00a0populism<\/a>\u00a0is a winning message for loyal Democrats,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThis was true across those who identify as liberals, moderates, or\u00a0progressives<\/a>: An unmistakable majority wants a party that will fight harder against the corporations and rich people they see as responsible for keeping them down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Prager<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stephen Prager is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Full Bio ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, U.S. representative for New York\u2019s 14th congressional district, speaks at a Townhall panel on populism at the 62nd Munich Security Conference on February 13, 2,026 in Munich, Germany. \u00a0(Photo by Sean Gallup\/Getty Images) \u201cAn unmistakable majority wants a party that will fight harder against the corporations and rich… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46728"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46728"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46728\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46729,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46728\/revisions\/46729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}